Surge in .si Domain Registrations in Slovenia Following Trump’s ‘Super Intelligence’ Directive
In recent developments, the demand for the .si domain name has surged dramatically following an executive order from President Trump requiring all governmental bodies to designate “AI” and “artificial intelligence” as “SI” and “super intelligence.” This trend mirrors the early days of the AI boom, which saw a significant rise in interest for the .ai domain linked to Anguilla, greatly benefiting that territory financially.
Now, it’s the .si domain’s moment to shine. Historically identified with Slovenia, the birthplace of First Lady Melania Trump, the .si domain experienced a staggering 2,199% rise in purchases during September, as reported by Klara Herman, a representative from Registry SI, the body overseeing Slovenia’s domain names. However, she was careful not to attribute the entire increase solely to President Trump’s actions.
On September 30, the day following the executive order, 11,000 new .si addresses were registered, with nearly 13,000 added in the subsequent 24 hours.
In an attempt to gauge the broader impact, inquiries were made to various web hosting services. GoDaddy noted it does not currently support the .si domain, while Squarespace had not responded by publication time. Wix mentioned they had not observed any significant increases in registrations since September 29, although they acknowledged that trends might change as more time passes. A representative stated, “It’s still early so that could change.”
Conversely, Hostinger reported that .si has become its second most favored domain extension, following .com. According to their statistics, approximately 4,300 users registered .si on September 30, with around 5,400 more on October 1. Notably, over 75% of .si registrations since September 23 occurred within those two days, with the majority of registrants hailing from the U.S. and India.
Interestingly, Hostinger highlighted that only about 3% of the new .si registrations explicitly relate to AI; the remainder falls under the “unclassified” category, suggesting users aimed to secure domain names without immediate specific intent. Most new registrants appear to be individuals and businesses, although some are speculating for potential resale.
In light of these developments, a founder recently noted that .si domains are currently seeing resale prices in the excess of one million dollars. Kim Than, CEO of Genius PR and a specialist in AI and crypto sectors, mentioned he purchased the .si variant of his business name to safeguard the brand, believing that doing so at a low cost was prudent in anticipation of future price increases.
Than views domain names as digital assets, expressing an intent to acquire more before prices escalate. He mentioned the possibility of tokenizing domains and trading them on blockchain, despite uncertainties regarding .si’s current compatibility. “Several founder friends are also buying because we think this is the next phase of the AI boom,” he shared, expressing optimism about its potential.
The potential popularity of the .si domain could increase as President Trump’s executive order notes that today’s advanced systems have capabilities that extend beyond just mimicking human intelligence, highlighting the emergence of a new level of super intelligence.
Klaudijus Januitis, the domain head at Hostinger, anticipates sustained demand for .si but does not foresee it surpassing .ai soon. He acknowledged that, for now, .si presents a more accessible and cost-effective alternative.
“Slovenia isn’t likely to experience the same economic impact as Anguilla did,” he remarked, clarifying that Anguilla charges a premium for .ai, directly benefiting its government, while Slovenia offers .si at a much lower cost, where funds go to the registry instead. For context, Hostinger lists the annual fee for .si at around $12, compared to $90 for .ai with a two-year commitment. “For Anguilla, .ai became a second economy; for Slovenia, .si is merely a supplementary advantage,” he concluded.
